Engineer’s family pays tribute to NH-Maine bridge

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Family members of the principal engineer of the original Memorial Bridge connecting New Hampshire to Maine paid a visit to the aging span before contractors dismantle it next month.

Lisa Brownell of Connecticut told the Portsmouth Herald she remembers hearing stories about how her great-grandfather helped design the nearly 90-year-old bridge. Ernest Henry Brownell was an architect in the U.S. Navy at the time. His name is on a plaque fastened to the Kittery side of the bridge, along with other Board of Engineers members, Walter Henry Norris and William Albert Grover.

Demolition of the bridge to make way for a new one is expected to start in late January. The bridge connecting Portsmouth and Kittery was closed to vehicles this year because of safety issues.